{"id":10694,"date":"2024-02-14T08:37:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T13:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyers-cup-history.org\/?p=10694"},"modified":"2025-07-09T19:06:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T23:06:38","slug":"2023-all-area-teams-delco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyers-cup-history.org\/?p=10694","title":{"rendered":"2023 All-Area Teams (Delco)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Drew Knight, Radnor Hockey Club<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

April 7, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All-Delco Hockey Player of the Year: Drew Knight\u2019s points kept climbing, his ego did not<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RADNOR \u2014 Drew Knight\u2019s point total reached a level that begged to be talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soft-spoken Radnor forward wouldn\u2019t bring it up. Even at the end of the season, he won\u2019t admit to keeping an eye on it. But within the program, or with his buddies around the league, or just to fill idle time before faceoffs, Knight was kept apprised by others as to how high his numbers were climbing. \u201cI tried to focus on the team and keep the individual stuff out of it, which I did a pretty good job of,\u201d he said. \u201cBut some people \u2013 whether it\u2019s my coaches or my teammates or other people I know through the league \u2013 would tell me, \u2018Oh, I see you up there.\u2019 And I\u2019m like, yeah I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The temptation was hard to resist, as Knight\u2019s point total shot upward by leaps and bounds \u2013 50s, 60s, 70s. When it hit 81 at the end of the regular season, an assistant coach pointed out its proximity to the century mark, something Knight quickly shushed away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More important to Knight than the number was what those points allowed. For a Radnor team that has largely been a non-factor in the ICSHL\u2019s Central Division for most of Knight\u2019s tenure, his lamp-lighting was a pathway to relevance. \u201cWhat\u2019s more important is how the team does,\u201d Knight said. \u201cIf it\u2019s leading to team success, I\u2019m thrilled with that. But if it\u2019s not going to lead to that, there\u2019s no point in getting all those points as an individual, because all that matters is as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knight got the best of both worlds. In just 20 games, he posted 90 points, the kind of bananas game tallies reserved for mythical stat lines in junior hockey. That included nine points in three playoff games, one of which the Raptors won, on the way to a Flyers Cup berth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those standout performances, Knight is the 2023 Daily Times Hockey Player of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining him on the first team are fellow forwards Kain Walker of Penncrest, Dylan Kouba of Garnet Valley and Cardinal O\u2019Hara\u2019s Luke Melito; defensemen Nick Dignazio of Strath Haven and AJ Moleski of Haverford; and goalie Matthew Beatty of Marple Newtown. All seven honorees are seniors. Dignazio is the lone holdover from last year. The All-Delco team is selected in consultation with area coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knight is Radnor\u2019s first hockey Player of the Year since Chris Brennan<\/a> in 2003 and 2004. He\u2019s the first hockey All-Delco from Radnor since 2017 (Clayton Proctor<\/a>). Those stats speak to the ebbs and flows of the Central, where in a class or two, teams can blink out of relevance or surge to new heights. Radnor has ridden those peaks and valleys. Knight started as a freshman in a trough, the division ruled by elite powers and the gulf between tiers vast. But this year, when three of the four first-round Central playoff games were upsets according to the seeds and a seven seed in Penncrest won it all, showed how things have drifted in a more egalitarian direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy freshman year, it was tough,\u201d Knight said. \u201cThe competition was crazy. I was intimidated going into games, playing guys twice my size and these teams that have crazy talent. But I think it really evened out over my high school career and into this year where really anyone could beat anyone any night of the week. I just think that Radnor specifically is in great hands going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knight is at the forefront of what he hopes is a Radnor renaissance. Two of the Raptors\u2019 leading forwards, Ryan Carr and Tucker Graham, are juniors, as is top defenseman Wim Van Rossum. The Raptors started a freshman in goal most of the season in James Danner. Knight and Graham finished 1-2 in points in Delco, Graham tallying 48 in 17 games before an injury ruled him out of the playoffs. Knight\u2019s brilliance has given them time to develop, and Knight is quick to credit Graham and Carr as a big reason for his explosive season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll these goals that I\u2019m scoring and assists that I\u2019m giving, it\u2019s because of my teammates,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t score all these goals without being given great opportunities by Tucker, Ryan, Connor Baumann, Colin French. They\u2019re all giving me great opportunities. It\u2019s not really an individual thing for me because if it weren\u2019t for the people around me, I would be nowhere near where I was.\u201d Knight was still the one finishing at rates rarely seen. Some of the tallies are ludicrous: Six goals against Great Valley-Phoenixville; six against Marple Newtown; six goals and two assists vs. Lower Merion; five and three against Garnet Valley; five and two against Haverford, the league\u2019s best defense; four and three against eventual champion Penncrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His capstone performance came in the Central playoffs, with the sixth-seeded Raptors upsetting No. 3 Marple, 6-5, without Graham. The Tigers led 5-3 after two periods, before Knight went to work. His primary assist set up Matthew Brown to get within one. He fired the breakout pass to launch Colin French to the game-tying goal with five minutes to play, then put Radnor ahead 10 seconds later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was one of my favorite memories from the four years, that game,\u201d Knight said. \u201cWe were down two going into the third period and it\u2019s a high-scoring game and as Tucker went down, we kind of figured that we\u2019d need to play the lower scoring games because we wouldn\u2019t be able to put up quite as many goals. We got that nice intermission between periods in the playoffs and everybody regrouped and we had coaches come in and talk, they left and as a team, we kind of all were pumping each other up and were getting ready for that period. We came out firing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knight added two goals and an assist in falling to Penncrest in the next round, then hit 90 points with a goal and a helper in a 7-2 Flyers Cup loss to Council Rock North. Whatever the final point tally reached, there was no questioning that it added up to maximizing the potential of Radnor\u2019s season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All-Delco Hockey: Kain Walker a major part of Penncrest\u2019s revival on ice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kain Walker, Penncrest Lions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kain Walker, Penncrest:<\/strong> A rampaging postseason was the capper on an excellent campaign and career for the high-scoring winger. The senior, whose class didn\u2019t win a game as freshmen, helped the Lions go from the seventh seed to their first Central title since 2005. Walker led the way with a team-high 24 goals and 42 points. His points per game tally of 2.10 was seventh-best in Delco. Walker had a solid regular season, among them two-goal outings against Radnor, Strath Haven and Springfield before the Christmas break. But he went on a tear in the playoffs: Two goals, including the game-winner, against Conestoga; a goal and two assists against Radnor; two and three in bossing Lower Merion in the final. He added two goals and the assist on the game-winner in Penncrest\u2019s Flyers Cup Class A win over Plymouth Whitemarsh. All told, it was 13 points in five postseason games, his explosive offensive ability the ultimate difference maker in tight games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Garnet Valley\u2019s Dylan Kouba fires a shot
on Cardinal O\u2019Hara goalie Liam
Schlickling.
(PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dylan Kouba, Garnet Valley<\/strong>: The senior was the anchor of a young forward corps that matured quickly this year. Kouba\u2019s prolific scoring ensured that this early step in their development included games in both the Central League playoffs and the Flyers Cup. Kouba got to 30 goals on the season, trailing only Knight in Delaware County. He added 14 assists for 44 points and a 2.2 points per game ratio, fifth-best in Delco. He had his most productive games against Ridley \u2013 two goals and three assists in November, five goals and a helper in January. But he also registered consecutive hat tricks against Penncrest and Conestoga down the stretch of the season. Kouba feasted on nonleague competition, with a hat trick against West Chester Henderson and multi-point games in all five non-conference affairs. He also scored in the Jaguars\u2019 Flyers Cup loss to Springfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke Melito, Cardinal O\u2019Hara<\/strong>: The senior forward\u2019s game-breaking speed helped O\u2019Hara contend in a difficult PCL division. Melito finished third in Delco with 25 goals. He added 11 assists for 36 points, his points per game of 2.00 good for 10th in the county. His signature performance may have come on Dec. 1 when he blistered neighborhood rival Springfield for five goals in a 10-0 thrashing. He added hat tricks against league foes Father Judge, Shanahan-Coatesville and Roman Catholic (one of two five-point games against the Cahillites.) Melito scored twice in the Lions\u2019 PCL playoff ouster against Father Judge, including the game-tying goal with 76 seconds left to send the game to OT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick Dignazio, Strath Haven<\/strong>: The lone repeating All-Delco player, Dignazio shined even as the Panthers struggled, though he did help them qualify for the Flyers Cup. Dignazio did whatever was required. Nominally a defenseman, he largely played as a center in a hybrid position, taking draws and leading rushes but also recovering deep. He scored a team-high 22 goals and 37 points, good for 2.06 points per game, ninth best in the county. In 13 league contests, he lit the lamp 18 times and had 29 points. That includes a hat trick in November against Haverford, two and two against Radnor and a four-goal outing against Ridley. Dignazio had a goal and an assist in each of the Panthers\u2019 non-league games against the West Chester schools. He had a hand in both goals, with a goal and an assist, in a 4-2 loss to Hershey in the first round of the Flyers Cup Class A. Also an All-Delco in soccer, Dignazio will continue his career in both sports at Ithaca College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cardinal O\u2019Hara\u2019s Luke Melito, left,
moves the puck up ice as Judge\u2019s
Colin Walsh defends in the playoff
game.
(PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AJ Moleski, Haverford<\/strong>: The senior converted defenseman was immensely valuable to the Fords, who finished the regular season as the top seed in the Central League. Faced with having to replace their entire defense from last season, Moleski stepped up to helm the blue line, helping the Fords allow 31 goals in 13 league games. That\u2019s the lowest total in the league, and only one other team allowed fewer than 46. Moleski added five goals and seven assists, including a helper in the Fords\u2019 win over Garnet Valley in the first round of the Central League playoffs. The left-handed shooter added a goal and two assists against Garnet Valley and Lower Merion in the regular season and a goal and a helper against Ridley and in nonleague games with Perkiomen Valley and Downingtown East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matthew Beatty, Marple Newtown<\/strong>: The Tigers had a special season, and the senior goalie was a big reason why. In the last half-decade, the Tigers have gone from not competitive enough to play in the Central League to this year finishing third in the standings and winning a Flyers Cup Class A game. Beatty backstopped that effort with an .891 save percentage, third-best in Delco, and a goals-against average at an even 4.00. He made 24 saves early in a win over Springfield that signaled Marple\u2019s arrival, then 28 in a 2-1 loss to Haverford just ahead of the playoffs. Beatty made 25 saves in a 7-2 win over West Chester Henderson in the Flyers Cup before missing their ouster against Lower Dauphin due to injury. Beatty is Marple\u2019s first hockey All-Delco since defenseman Matt Taxin in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All-Delco First Team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dylan Kouba, Sr. F, Garnet Valley
Drew Knight, Sr. F, Radnor
Kain Walker, Sr. F, Penncrest
Nick Dignazio, Sr. D, Strath Haven
AJ Moleski, Sr. D, Haverford
Luke Melito, Sr. F, Cardinal O\u2019Hara
Matthew Beatty, Sr. G, Marple Newtown<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All Delco Second Team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tucker Graham, Jr. F, Radnor
Ryan McGlade, So. F, Haverford
Zachery Dembzynski, Jr. F, Marple Newtown
Hayden McGinnis<\/a>, Sr. D, Sun Valley
Aidan Kertis, Sr. D, Springfield
Fiona Walker, So. G, Penncrest
Andrew Craig, Sr. G, Garnet Valley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorable Mention<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archbishop Carroll:<\/strong>\u00a0Mario Dewees, Carter Hritz, Cole Miller
Cardinal O\u2019Hara:<\/strong>\u00a0Andrew Graney<\/a>, Bode Peterson, Finnegan Plummer, Patrick Roney, Liam Schickling, John Shelton
Garnet Valley:<\/strong>\u00a0Owen Doyle, Latham Hutchinson, Jake Robinson
Haverford:<\/strong>\u00a0Vladimir Hartman, Andrew Henderson, Owen Rabadam, Gus Scuderi
Marple<\/strong>\u00a0Newtown: Ethan McKay, Tenzee Z\u2019Ningray
Penncrest:<\/strong>\u00a0Nick Del Pizzo, Nash Grant<\/a>, Matt McKay, Eddie Morroni, Jackson Wickman
Radnor:<\/strong>\u00a0Connor Baumann, Ryan Carr, Colin French, Wim van Rossum
Ridley:<\/strong>\u00a0Colin Huppman, Billy Schultz, Matt Stranix
Springfield:<\/strong>\u00a0Devin Hoban, Frankie Izzi, Jake O\u2019Brien, Danny White
Strath Haven:<\/strong>\u00a0Annie Dignazio, Charles Leuthold, Brock Reid
Sun Valley:<\/strong>\u00a0Nate Benz<\/a>, Aiden Bourne, Julian Diehl, Will Newnom, Liam Polsky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Matt De George
The Daily Times<\/strong><\/p>\n

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April 7, 2023 All-Delco Hockey Player of the Year: Drew Knight\u2019s points kept climbing, his ego did not RADNOR \u2014 Drew Knight\u2019s point total reached […]<\/p>\n

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